$100 in 1997 is worth $110 in 2001,
because prices increased 10.3% over that period, an average of
2.49% a year.
$100 in 1997 has
the same buying power as
$110
in 2001
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
10.3%
Average inflation rate
2.49% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$110
Price difference ($100 base)
$10.34
CPI in 1997
160.5
CPI in 2001
177.1
Inflation in 1997
2.29%
Inflation in 2001
2.85%
$100 in 1997 → 2001
$110
$100 in 2001 → 1997
$90.63
What happened to prices between 1997 and 2001
Between 1997 and 2001, the Consumer Price Index went from 160.5 to 177.1.
Cumulatively, prices increased 10.3%, which works out to an average of
2.49% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1997 bought what
$0.91 buys in 2001: the 1997 dollar
lost 9.4% of its purchasing power over
these 4 years.
The median household earned about $37,000 in 1997, gas averaged $1.23 a gallon, and a new home
cost roughly $146,000. Inflation ran at 2.3% for the year, its lowest reading since the
mid-1980s, as a strong dollar and falling import prices helped keep costs in check at home even
as trouble built abroad. In July, Thailand devalued the baht, and the currency collapse that
followed spread within months to Indonesia, South Korea, and other Southeast Asian economies,
forcing IMF bailouts and years of recession across the region, though the crisis had little
immediate effect on U.S. prices. At home, Washington had a calmer year: in August, President
Clinton and Congress agreed on the Balanced Budget Act and the Taxpayer Relief Act, which cut
capital gains tax rates, created the Roth IRA, and set the federal budget on a path to its first
surplus in nearly three decades. In September, the federal minimum wage completed a two-step
rise to $5.15 an hour, where it would stay for a decade. Low inflation, a firming budget picture,
and a crisis unfolding an ocean away made 1997 a year the U.S. economy looked stronger than much
of the rest of the world’s.
Every 1997 amount converts to 2001 at the same ratio, 1.10: $1,000 becomes
$1,103, and $10,000 becomes $11,034.
Amount in 1997
Value in 2001
$1.00
$1.10
$5.00
$5.52
$10.00
$11.03
$20.00
$22.07
$50.00
$55.17
$100
$110
$500
$552
$1,000
$1,103
$5,000
$5,517
$10,000
$11,034
$100,000
$110,343
$1,000,000
$1,103,427
Inflation by spending category, 1997–2001
Between 1997 and 2001, medical care rose the most, up 16.3%, while apparel fell 4.2%, against 10.3% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1997
spending costs in 2001, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1997 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.49%
$110
Medical care
3.84%
$116
Energy
3.77%
$116
Housing
2.99%
$113
Food
2.42%
$110
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.36%
$110
Transportation
1.69%
$107
Education & communication
1.68%
$107
Recreation
1.30%
$105
Apparel
-1.07%
$95.79
Decade by decade: 1997 to 2001
Prices climbed fastest in the 2000s, averaging 2.85% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.37% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1997–2001 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1997, at end
1997–2000
2.37%
7.3%
$107
2000–2001
2.85%
2.8%
$110
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1997
$100 from 1997 had already become $104 by
1999, on its way to $110 in 2001; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 3.4% in 2000, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2001, prices rose 2.8% and $100 from 1997 had the buying
power of $110; the year's average CPI of 177.1 is the level
behind every 2001 figure on this page.
Inflation fell to 2.8% in 2001 from 3.4% the year before, as a recession that began in March
cut demand and gasoline slid to an average of $1.46 a gallon. The median household earned about
$42,200, roughly flat from 2000, and a new home cost about $175,200. The Federal Reserve cut its
policy rate 11 times over the year, from 6.5% to 1.75%, the lowest since 1961. After the
September 11 attacks, U.S. stock markets closed for four trading days, and air travel dropped
sharply until the following year. Congress had already passed a $1.35 trillion tax cut in June,
which included rebate checks of up to $600. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the
recession’s end at November, but unemployment kept rising into 2003. A first-class stamp went to
34 cents in January, and the federal minimum wage stayed at $5.15. The Fed’s cuts were the
first step in a long period of very cheap borrowing that would fuel the housing boom.
MLA: “Inflation from 1997 to 2001: $100 is worth $110 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2001/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1997 to 2001. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1997-to-2001/